This page provides descriptions for courses in the Department of Sociology's graduate program.
Course Descriptions
All Sociology course descriptions are available in the General Course Catalog.
201. Social Research (4)
Lecture/discussion—3 hours; term paper.
Prerequisite: graduate standing or consent of instructor.
Comparative survey of sociological inquiry, taught as a practicum. Philosophy of social science; values and research; research agendas and research problem formulations; research process; explanations. interpretation; study design; concept formation, measure, sampling, data acquisition, inference; rhetoric and presentation of findings.
206. Quantitative Analysis in Sociology (4)
Lecture—4 hours. Prerequisite: SOC 106.
Survey of the statistical models and methods that serve as a foundation for quantitative research in sociology, with an emphasis on multivariate regression analysis, as well as measurement theory and time series analysis.
(S/U grading only.) —II. (II.)
207A. Methods of Quantitative Research (4–4)
Lecture—3 hours; paper.
Prerequisite: SOC 106 or the equivalent. Principles of study design, examination of measurement, survey research methods and multivariate analysis. Course will stress actual practice of techniques. Students will carry out quantitative data analysis using packaged computer programs.
208. Topics in Advanced Quantitative Methods in Social Science (4)
Seminar—3 hours; term paper.
Prerequisite: course 206 or the equivalent and graduate standing; major graduate student.
Analysis of the logic and application of an advanced statistical model; the particular model chosen may vary. Emphasis on the model's assumptions, its strengths and weaknesses, its application for social science inquiry, and the relationship between methods and social theory. May be repeated up to 12 units for credit. Offered in alternate years.
215. Economy, Polity, and Society (4)
Seminar—3 hours; paper. Prerequisite: consent of instructor. Open to graduate students in sociology and related disciplines.
Course introduces students to topics and selected issues in the related fields of economic and political sociology and political economy
220. Deviance, Law, and Social Control (4)
Seminar—3 hours; projects. Prerequisite: SOC 120 or consent of instructor.
Report and discussions of literature on selected forms of deviance in relation to law and formal social control. Agency contacts and exploratory research projects.
224. Sociology of Education (4)
Seminar—3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: SOC 206 or the equivalent recommended.
Overview of sociological theories accounting for the form, role and evolution of educational systems. Emphasis on empirical research on education and social stratification and application to educational policy. Topics include tracking, racial/ethnic achievement inequalities, school organization, and the immigrant experience.
225. Cultural Sociology (4)
Seminar—3 hours, term paper.
Explores the varied ways in which culture is understood in the social sciences and the research questions that follow from contrasting viewpoints. The approach is historically informed and focused on changing cultural forms in relation to industrialization and post-modernism. Offered in alternate years.
226. Sociological Social Psychology (4)
Seminar—3 hours; seminar paper—1 hour. Prerequisite: graduate standing or consent of instructor.
Advanced study of the varying approaches, methods, issues and topical concerns of sociological social psychology. Analysis of central and representative historical and contemporary works.
227. Sociology of Reproduction (4)
Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour.
Recent social science scholarship in such areas as teenage pregnancy, family planning, abortion, adoption, AIDS, and new reproductive technologies; focus on the current situation in the United States. Offered in alternate years.
230. Ethnic (Race) Relations (4)
Lecture—3 hours; term paper.
Advanced study of the determinants of ethnic groupings and their interrelationships. Major theme will be the patterns of ethnic stratification and causes of ethnic conflict. Specific focus upon dominance and resistance to dominance. Influence of social science research.
233. Gender, Culture, and Local/Global Transformation (4)
Seminar—3 hours; term paper.
Focus on critical approach to women and development; analyze local transformations with global connections within specific cultural contexts. Course covers theory, methodological issues, and relationship between theory and practice. Offered in alternate years.
234. Gender, Family and Society (4)
Seminar—3 hours; seminar paper. Prerequisite: graduate standing or consent of instructor.
The major theoretical traditions and concerns in family sociology and sociology of gender. Analysis of selected classical and contemporary works representative of functionalist, Marxist, psychoanalytic, feminist and critical theoretical approaches to these subjects (e.g., Engels, Parsons, Freud, Horkheimer, Goode, Lasch, Mitchell). Emphasis on macro and historical questions.
242A. Comparative Methods in Historical Sociology (4_4)
Seminar—3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: graduate standing or consent of instructor.
Comparative approaches to major historical phenomena such as nationalism, bureaucratization, feudalism, and capitalism; the relevance of psychological and sociological theories to historical interpretation; the verifiability of historically grounded hypothesis; the meaning of analogy, correspondence and causality.
243. Urban Society (4)
Seminar—3 hours; term paper.
Broad overview of the issues and concerns of the field of urban sociology. Special emphasis on the human experience of urban living in contemporary, cross-cultural or historical settings.
245. Developing Societies (4)
Seminar—3 hours; term paper or project. Prerequisite: graduate student status or familiarity with problems of developing societies.
Analysis of social and economic problems of developing societies from the standpoint of theory and research on modernization and underdevelopment. Nature of third world dependency and interdependence in the global political economy. Offered in alternate years.
248. Social Movements (4)
Seminar—3 hours; term paper.
Analysis of current issues in and contributions to the study of collective behavior and social movements; particular focus upon the strategies and tactics of social movements.
254. Sociological Issues in Health Care (4)
Seminar—3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: open to graduate or professional students.
Sociological perspectives and methods directed to health care issues. Students select topics for supervised research. The course will have a theme (described in advance) each time it is offered. Paper on research will be required.
(S/U grading only.)
255. Sociology of Law (4)
Seminar—4 hours. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
Analysis of the nature of the legal process and its impact on social behavior. Will consider (1) nature and functions of law, (2) the organization and administration of law, and (3) the capacity of law to affect social behavior.
265A. Classical Sociological Theory (4)
Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour.
Introduces graduate students to the work of the main classical thinkers in the tradition of social theory, such as Marx, Durkheim, Weber, Simmel, Freud, G.H. Mead, and Parsons, locating them within the historical, cultural, and philosophical milieu in which their ideas originated.
265B. Theory in Contemporary Sociology (4)
Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. Prerequisite: course 265A.
Explores the uses of theories in contemporary sociology by tracing their connections with classical sociological writings and their relations to broader theoretical concerns of contemporary social thought, with particular emphasis on relevance to the current historical, cultural and social milieu.
270. Social Demography (4)
Seminar—4 hours. Prerequisite: course 170 or consent of instructor.
How social institutions affect and are affected by the level and variation of mortality, migration, and fertility. Special emphases on the determinants of fertility-related attitudes and behavior, on less- developed countries, and on contemporary empirical studies.
280. Organizations and Institutions (4)
Seminar—4 hours.
Theory of formal organizations and bureaucracy. Methods of research in organizational and institutional studies. Historical and comparative analysis of political, religious, educational, military, and economic structure.
290. Seminar (4)
Seminar—3 hours; term paper.
(S/U grading only.)
292A. Field Research (4-4)
Seminar—3 hours; field trips. Prerequisite: graduate standing in Department of Sociology or consent of instructor.
The process of collecting, analyzing and reporting qualitative social data: techniques of intensive interviewing, participant-observation and document analysis; generating, developing, and evaluating analytic frameworks; recording, storing, retrieving, and writing up qualitative data. Emphasis on application of principles; each participant completes a fieldwork project.
293. Proseminar in Sociology (2)
Seminar—2 hours. Prerequisite: first-year Department of Sociology graduate students only.
Introduction to graduate training in sociology. A seminar designed to introduce students entering graduate work in the department to its ongoing research activities.
(S/U grading only.)—(I.)
295. Special Topics Seminar (4)
Lecture/discussion—3 hours; term paper. Prerequisite: graduate standing or consent of instructor.
Research topics in sociology. Specific topic will vary according to faculty interest and student demand. May be repeated for credit when topic differs.
—I, II, III.
298. Group Study (1–5)
Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
(S/U grading only.)
299. Individual Study (1–12)
(S/U grading only.)
Professional Courses
390A. The Teaching of Sociology (2)
Lecture—1 hour; discussion—1 hour.
Prerequisite: graduate standing; required for first-time teaching assistants. Practical instruction in teaching methods for qualitative and quantitative courses. Pedagogical issues involved in critical sociological analysis.
(S/U grading only.)—I. (I.)
390B. The Teaching of Sociology (2)
Lecture—1 hour; discussion—1 hour.
Prerequisite: graduate standing. Practical instruction in devising course syllabi, lectures and assignments for associate instructors and others interested in college teaching. Discussion of pedagogical methods of teaching qualitative and quantitative courses.
(S/U grading only.)—II. (II.)
396. Teaching Assistant Training Practicum (1–4)
Prerequisite: graduate standing. May be repeated for credit.
(S/U grading only.)—I, II, III. (I, II, III.)
466. Research Paper Workshop (2)
Workshop—1.5 hours; discussion—0.5 hours. Prerequisite: Master of Arts standing.
A workshop to assist advanced graduate students in the preparation of an original research paper. Students present their research papers and discuss issues in theory, research design, data, empirical inference, and verbal and written presentation of a professional research paper.
(S/U grading only.)